Want to move to Canada!

Your first step should be to navigate to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada official government website, fill out the online information and see if you qualify for a visa.

www.cic.gc.ca/english

Then if you want to look for jobs you could use search engines such as monster.ca or workopolis.com

I would recommend that you limit your searches to the Province of Alberta, cities like Calgary or Edmonton where there is economic growth and jobs are avialable in all sectors. This is not the case in other parts of Canada. Cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are saturated with newcomers to Canada, since they have been the most chosen destinations for decades now. Finding jobs there is extremely difficult even for Canadians.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team

Hey there,
wjwoodward is right in general except for IT. There is still a lot of opportunities in Toronto and esp Montreal in the IT world. I work for one of the largest ISP in Canada and I can tell you, we have a hard time finding good candidates.

If you're in it for the short haul, then yes by all means limit your searches to only the major cities. But if you are considering to making Canada your permanent home not just for you but also for  your kids, you may want to consider other areas. I do agree with William that other areas pose growth problem but hear me out from an IT sector perspective.

Being in the business of IT, you would know that geographical displacement no longer pose a challenge especially with the advent of the Internet. Thus companies would consider setting up in mid sized cities such as Halifax, Moncton, Charlettetown, Ottawa, Winnipeg. Granted that there are not as many jobs to come, but the mere fact that most people simply choose to ignore these places provides a clear opportunity for you to apply to it - thereby eliminating your competition by their mere absence.

I've been here (Halifax) for 5 years, worked for less than 2 years. I've saved enough for the downpayment (20%) of a home average about 300,000 and be expecting our first born in a few months time. Life is good. Daily commute is not at all like in Toronto or larger cities. I sometimes forget how easy is it to simply drive home when in Hali and have to be reminded how fortunate I am when I head over to Toronto for some business trips. Yes, you do get about 10-20% pay cut but that comes as expected. You make it up with the other non-tangible things and also the housing cost being the biggest draw.

Here are some recent articles form moneysence canada that quotes that small-med size city living is now the way to go

Canadas Best Places to Live 2014: Time to think small -

moneysense.ca/property/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-time-to-think-small]moneysense.ca/property/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-time-to-think-small

Canadas Best Places to Live 2014: Full Ranking

moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-full-ranking]moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-full-ranking

Hi all actually im vikash from mauritius and im in the IT field since 6 years supposingly if im not eligible is there no way for me to come there even as skilled worker is there no other way out please I need help

Look to the major universities and colleges as IT is the "new IN" right now. IT Trainers are sought after for schools, colleges, universities and most large industries. Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon. Research some IT Firms and agencies in Canada and look at their opportunities and hiring quota and requirements - see if your experience level from abroad matches the country you wish to move to and live in - get all documents matched up so that it matches equivalency status for Canada standards. Places like the aeronautical businesses, aircraft manufacturing industries, Television, cable companies all have an IT Unit. Telephone industries.

hi,i am a diploma in accounts holder from kenya with a 2ys experince,are there jobs in canada that can suite me,and how is the cost of living especialy in alberta. i have ever wished to live i canada,
if anyone has a link i will realy appreciate and any assistance will be highly appreciated
Alexis

Arlexan wrote:

hi,i am a diploma in accounts holder from kenya with a 2ys experince,are there jobs in canada that can suite me,and how is the cost of living especialy in alberta. i have ever wished to live i canada,
if anyone has a link i will realy appreciate and any assistance will be highly appreciated
Alexis

I suggest you check out the post by wjwoodward on 3rd June, and check out the websites he has mentioned.

Hi wjwoodward & philipyeo,

Thank you for your suggestions. I would like to move to Canada on a permanent basis and not for short haul. I agree with philipyeo that most people would ignore the smaller cities and prefer moving to the major ones. I personally do not mind moving to a smaller city. philipyeo, would you be able to suggest me some companies that I could apply to directly in Halifax and if possible in other smaller cities. Or you could align me with some placement agencies with whom i can get in touch with. In addition to this, would you suggest that i apply from India and then once I get through, move over there or should be pack my bags and land up and apply there directly in the companies so that I can have direct face to face interviews. Please do let me know how I should go about it. I am open to all legal options.

vkrkrishnan,

PM me and we'll talk offline.

@vikash007,

Cold hard truth, although Canada may need lots of IT professionals, most IT small - mid sized companies may not jump onto the band wagon to embark on the process of hiring someone who is not a PR or Canadian citizen. Why? Because it is a long and tedious process, period!..

The only counter you have to that are:
1) You are physically here and have other legal status (refugee, student - can use off-campus workpermit, open work permit attached to a spouse)
2) You have a rare and unique skill set in the IT field which is hard to come by in that particular region. Say for example, the famous Toronto / Vancouver / Montreal has lots of immigrants and local Canadians. Drill down to that, and you'd find a sizeable amount of people with the skills of Middleware (WebSphere MQ/ Broker) implementation (IT skills stuff that are rare to come by). What more, if these folks can earn $120 - 150K ave / annum in those major cities, they would NEVER move to small cities like Halifax or Moncton to take a BIG pay cut like down to $100K. So here's your chance. If a new company starts in Halifax and needs those skills and you have it, you stand a good chance that they will do what it takes to get you here. NOTE: this is assuming you have those rare skill sets!! Which in itself is also hard to get the opportunity to hone those skills.

It is getting harder to come here with a work permit that the company in Canada is willing to wait and pay out (getting more expensive as CIC just increased the fees for LMIA (no longer called LMO)) -  reason for these changes is the argument that lots of Canadians do not have jobs so they should stop companies from hiring people from overseas. Which is true to a certain extend depending on which area or field. So for the IT company to go ahead and try to get someone from overseas over here legally, they must ensure it is worth their while and that the benefits and return outweighs the investment and risk involve. I know my company did not take the plunge to hire an Indian national working in Singapore because they were willing to train up a local for that skill set. Its all relative. But bigger companies might be willing to do so as they have more capital to take on the risk.

So according to you I should apply for job in halifax if that is not right please could you suggest me what I can do to come over there before 2015 me and my wife please help me sir

The only way is to immigrate there..the employers in Canada have a lot of trouble with the governemont when its comes to hire an overseas employees. they insist on the fact they have a lot of people qualified looking for job all over canada. The employers have to prove that they've done all they can to find a qualified employee before submitting overseas employment request!
i hope its answers out all your questions.

Hi

i would like to thank everyone who answered to my queries and provided me a direction. Well, I took the advice and submitted my PR application last year. I am happy to share that my PR application came through and have received my visa. I have not yet booked my tickets but in all probability will be moving there sometime in September.

Thanks again.

vkrkrishnan,
Congratulations. September is a good time to land. Where are you headed might I ask?

Toronto is most likely destination.

I would look to Service Canada Outlet. They have a substantial job bank you can hook into and search under IT Opportunities. Calgary is a fairly reasonable city to explore. There is an indian Association you could look into as well. Indian Cultural Association (Canada) - you could investigate and see what you can find out. There is Canada Post - Calgary - Revenue Canada - Calgary Offices etc. Lots to explore and look into - you can look to CIC Immigration Canada and look into ways to immigrate - individual - express entry - business etc. Just ideas.

Hey EDWAM1,

Thanks for the loads of information that you shared. I have already got the PR visa, i just need to land there as an immigrant. For jobs, i will definitely explore the various options that you have provided.

The link will be www.jobbank.gc.ca
If you go the explore tab, you can also see stats on what's the average compensation depending area and all that good stuff. I'd trust this material more than using glassdoor as it comes from Stats Canada.
That way, you'll know if your potential offers makes sense or not.
All the best to you.

Thanks Philip, I will explore this link and look at opportunities on the site.

Hello Phillip, I found your info was very valuable. I started the process (evaluated my education credentials, registered for the IELTS test). I estimate my CRS score to be 350 to 400 (without job offer). Simultaneously I searched for employment in the IT field, but the responses I received so far sums up to "we are unwilling to hire someone who doesn't have a work permit or isn't a PR in Canada". How can one overcome this hurdle? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

am86 wrote:

Hello Phillip, I found your info was very valuable. I started the process (evaluated my education credentials, registered for the IELTS test). I estimate my CRS score to be 350 to 400 (without job offer). Simultaneously I searched for employment in the IT field, but the responses I received so far sums up to "we are unwilling to hire someone who doesn't have a work permit or isn't a PR in Canada". How can one overcome this hurdle? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I will add you as a friend here and pm you. Reply me with more details as to what field you are in, how many years of working experience, what's your field/job/tech type preference and we'll chat from there.

I am an insurance professional with 12 years of experience in this sector. Already got my self registered in Express entry. My scores are 379. Need Job offer or invitation from province to improve scores. Checked for Manitoba province and found that i score well, only thing that I require is a sponsor, that can be a friend also not necessarily a relative. Can anyone help me on this.